American literature - přednášky

Colonial life in America

13 colonies

• Three groups: New England colonies, Middle Colonies, Southern Colonies (Upper South, Lower South)

  • New England colonies: Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire

  • Middle colonies: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York

  • Southern colonies: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, George → those colonies were named after rulers

• 1723? – problematic year – major one was money – taxes – Americans didn’t want to pay that just because British wanted it → British x Americans

• New England colonies were settled for different reasons

• Southern colonies were settled for?

New England colonies

• Spiritual ideals – freedom of belief

• 2 major groups – the Pilgrims (separatists – they wanted to separate from American church, they were persecuted for that) and the Puritans (they wanted to purify the church – they were persecuted too)

  • They wanted to practice their beliefs and England wasn’t the place to practice it – that’s why they left – to settle in North America??

• The Great Migration → First big group left in 1620 – Plymouth colony – Mayflower ship

• Mayflower Compact 1620 = agreement – it is about who will rule the colony – they had the right to rule themselves (It was written on the Mayflower ship)

• Second ruler of the Pilgrims - William Bradford – quite successful, peaceful relationships with Native Americans – they survived harsh winters

• 1630 – Massachusetts Bay Colony was established – for religious beliefs

• 14 thousand people left to Massachusetts

• Thomas Hooker – Founding Father of Connecticut – he left Massachusetts for religious reasons and he established Connecticut

• In 1636, Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson were banished from the Massachusetts colony and established the Rhode Island Colony – probably the most tolerant, a haven (útočiště) for Baptists, Quakers, and other refugees from the Puritan community

• A charter for the land which would form the New Hampshire Colony was obtained by John Mason

• Colonies only traded things they couldn’t produce themselves

• Self-supporting farmsteads

• Anti-slavery movement

• New England colonies required towns to set up schools, and many did so

• New England (and Virginia) led the way to the American Revolution

• The Salem witch trials – negative

• Notable literary and intellectual figures were New Englanders – they had the money, the resources

The way to independence

• Sons of Liberty – group - they were against taxes – no taxation without representation

• The Stamp Act – 1765 – most of the printed documents had to be printed on special paper that was stamped – it was raised by Brits

• Boston Tea Party – protest organized by Sons of Liberty – they got into Boston harbour onto the ship and they threw tea to the water – because they had to pay very high tax on a tea (they were dressed as Native Americans)

• The “Intolerable Acts” – the confrontation lead to the first battles of the American Revolutionary War in 1775